Naruto Uzumaki: The Fūinjutsu Sage
by YamiNarutoRendan
Summary: An 8 year old Naruto has a life-changing experience and gets serious, continuing in the legacy of his family - becoming a Fūinjutsu master! Watch as a new Naruto hits the scene. Naruto/Hinata/?/? - Small Harem. Smart!Naruto Strong!Naruto
1. Chapter 1: Revelations

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the related characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, and various animation and production studios/companies. If I did I'd be dang rich. This is written solely for entertainment, not for any form of money.**

_A/N: Hey there everyone, this is my first Naruto fic, and my first fic on this site (have written some stuff in the past on forums and yahoo groups, so it's not my first actual fic). Hopefully it's well-written and enjoyable for all of you. Read and Review!_

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><p><strong>Chapter 1 - Revelations<strong>

_**Konohagakure, Land of Fire – 8 Years after defeat of Kyūbi no Yōko**_

Small stones crunched along the darkened dirt road under the pounding feet of a young boy running through the side streets of Konoha. Large explosions muffled the sound of the frantic footsteps, each explosion lighting up the street briefly as the sound of distant cheering for the fireworks carried in the still air.

Tonight was a holiday, a festival, to celebrate the eighth anniversary of the defeat of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox that had ravaged the Village Hidden in the Leaves. And the commemoration of the death of the Yondaime Hokage – who had given his life that night to protect their village by sealing the Kyūbi away – as well as all the other victims of the attack.

It was also the reason the young boy, known to most as Naruto Uzumaki, was running through the streets, his orange jumpsuit a bright blur as he ran back from the Academy to escape the village for the night. And the reason that the drunken group chasing him, had accosted him once they'd caught sight of him – just like they always did.

Unbeknownst to the boy, who was confused as to why they treated him like this on this day every year, the Yondaime had sealed the Kyūbi away within him the night he has been born. The villagers, especially the civilians but even some of the Shinobi, hated him for what he contained, and this night and its memories and its drinking brought the usual glares and muttered insults further, often into physical violence. His aching head where one of the drunken men had nailed him with an empty bottle of sake, spoke to that fact.

He had dealt with it for years, and his birthday had become the most dreaded day of the year for him, so he tended to try an early escape out of the village and into the forest to spend the night until tempers cooled and the villagers sobered up.

This time, however, he had been caught pulling a prank on his instructors – after several had pulled open their lockers to get their gear and had paint-bombs explode in their faces, of course. The entire prank had earned him detention and he'd had to scrub up the instructor's locker room until it was satisfactorily clean and free of paint. Therefore, he was far later getting out than he had wanted, and festivities were already underway, which would make his escape much more difficult.

He heard a shout from down a side street as someone caught sight of him, and he picked up speed, panting as he tried to mentally map out his escape route.

"Damn it," he muttered to himself as he realized he was being forced a bit closer toward the center of town where the majority of the festival was – he had to jog away on a side road or he'd end up in an even worse situation.

His thoughts were interrupted as he spun around a corner, and found himself barreling toward two people, one of them a young girl he recognized from the Ninja Academy.

He tried to put on the brakes, but the light rain from earlier in the day made the ground slippery and muddy, and he managed only to turn his head to the side and not break his nose as he landed face-first on the ground and skidded the last few feet, and into the girl.

His shoulders hit into her legs as he came to a stop, and she stumbled backward, landing on her bottom with a surprised expulsion of breath.

Naruto scrambled to his feet. "S-Sumimasen, Hinata," he apologized, sticking his hand out, offering her help up. Hinata, of the Hyūga clan, was one of the few children at the Academy that was nice to him, although incredibly shy. "Are you okay?"

The dark-blue haired girl let him help her up, her pale lavender eyes glazed slightly. "H-hai, N-Naruto-kun, I'm o-okay," she said softly, a blush spreading across her face.

The woman, who was carrying a baby wrapped up in a blanket, leaned down and brushed the dirt from Hinata's kimono. The woman had the same color hair as Hinata, hers hanging freely down nearly to her waist while Hinata's was cut short. Hinata's mother, he realized, his face reddening.

He apologized again, bowing his head slightly. "I should have been watching where I was going, I'm sorry."

Hinata's mother, dressed in a finely-stitched _komon_ kimono, saw the long, bloody scrape across Naruto's forehead where gravel had sliced into during his fall, and turned to her daughter. "Hold your sister a moment, Hinata," she said softly.

"Hai, okasan," Hinata said, taking the bundled child, and trying to hide her beet-red face in the blankets, and yet peek over them at Naruto all at the same time.

The woman reached into the sleeve of her kimono for a small lacquered box, which she opened and pulled out a flower-patterned handkerchief. She stepped forward, the handkerchief in hand, and moved it toward his forehead.

She frowned mentally at the instinctive flinch as she neared him, but stepped even closer, taking his chin gently in one hand as she dabbed away the blood and wet dirt from the wound. She smiled gently at him as his shocked blue eyes rose to look at her face.

"Hello Naruto, I'm Hitomi – Hinata's mother. She's told me all about you," she said, not noticing her daughter bury her face fully into her sister's blankets at that, a flaming blush on her cheeks. "Are you alright as well? This looks like a nasty gash."

He looked up at the kind, smiling face, shocked speechless for several moments, having expected a scolding at the very least if not a slap for knocking down her daughter. This woman was, really, one of the few people who had ever been kind to him, aside from the Sandaime Hokage, a select few ANBU who had helped him in the past, and Teuchi and his daughter Ayame who ran Ramen Ichiraku, his favorite ramen stand. _'This must be where Hinata gets it from_,' he thought absently.

He flashed her a wide smile, and gave a thumbs up as she turned the handkerchief around and used the other side to wipe the rest of the dirt away. "I'm fine, I heal fast," he said brightly.

"Okay," she said, fighting between laughter and sadness at his sudden upbeat attitude at her gesture. "Next time, maybe you should try to slow down going around corners?" she asked, amusement finally winning out.

He nodded for a moment, and she dabbed once more at his scrape before dropping her hand. His entire demeanor changed the next moment, startling her. His eyes hardened slightly, and his face paled and smile disappeared, and she realized he was gazing at something behind her.

She turned her head quickly and noticed a group of men and women down the street, staggering along and obviously inebriated, and watched a shout go up from the group as they spotted the orange jumpsuit down the road.

Naruto's expression became panicked and he backed up. "I-I have to go – if they catch me here they'll go after you and Hinata too. _Arigatō gozaimasu_," he said, bowing his head slightly before turning and running off quickly in the other direction before Hitomi could stop him.

"Naruto-kun," she heard her daughter's voice say worriedly at her side.

Hitomi placed her hand on her daughter's shoulders, and guided her quickly to the side of the road, and then watched in disgust as the veritable mob stormed down the street past them, paying them no heed, assuming the "monster" (as many of the shouts could be heard calling him) had been accosting them.

"O-Okasan," Hinata said quietly, "can't we help him?"

Hitomi shook her head sadly, nearly grimacing as she brought her hand up to her stomach in remembered pain. She had been a strong ninja once, a feared young kunoichi who had graduated in the same class as Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage. However, she had married her cousin Hiashi Hyūga, and settled into a domestic role until her first child, Hinata, was born.

It had been a hard, long birth, one that had weakened her greatly. She had nursed her daughter for several months, her own physical condition weakening, before Hiashi has sent her and a number of Branch Family members away for six months to be treated by the legendary healer Sannin, Tsunade.

The treatment had worked, as did the physical exercises Tsunade had suggested, and she had slowly regained some of her former health, enough to see the rest of Hinata's childhood. Her second birth, only six months ago to Hanabi, had been much easier, mainly due to Tsunade's earlier treatments.

It had still been a hard birth but not nearly as damaging, and with the exercises she was now able to go on walks through the village with her daughter so long as it was not too strenuous. In her prime, she could have stopped the crowd, leaving them either unconscious or dead, but now she doubted she could take down more than a few before aggravating the old injuries and possibly dying herself. And interfering and being hurt would leave her daughters open to retaliation.

She had skipped the festivals, except for the previous year, and had never realized how the young boy who was protecting their village from the Kyūbi was really treated on these days. She'd known he was shunned, seen the dirty looks and heard her daughter speak of how most of the school children had been influenced by their parents in the same way, but hadn't known this.

Hitomi sighed, and looked down at her daughter who was staring off in the direction the young boy had run. "I'm sorry, Hina-chan, if I could I would stop them, but I'm not strong enough yet. We can't help him. But… I'll talk to your father, and see if he can do something for your friend."

"I understand, kaa-san, but w-why do they hate him?" Hinata asked, looking up at her mother, tears and confusion in her pupil-less eyes. "His pranks aren't that bad, and he's nice to everyone even if they aren't to him," she said, her voice trembling slightly.

Hitomi knelt next to her daughter, a bitter taste in the back of her mouth as she caressed Hinata's cheek. "They hate him for something else, something that happened when he was a baby, which he couldn't control. It's stupid, but sometimes that's the way people are."

Seeing her daughter's sadness hardened her resolve even further than Naruto's bright smile had. No child deserved this, especially one that had been used to save the village. Hiashi would be bringing this all the way to the Sandaime if she had anything to say about it, Hyūga Elders and the "image of the clan" be damned.

She took Hanabi from Hinata's arms, and stood, not caring that her kimono had become muddy. "Come, Hinata, I don't feel like celebrating at the festival after seeing that. I'll talk to your father when he gets back tonight."

Hinata nodded, glancing one last time down the street Naruto had disappeared down before folding her hands in front of her and following her mother quietly down the road, back to the Hyūga Clan compound. '_Naruto-kun… I hope you're okay,_' she thought to herself.

**xxxXXX-XXXxxx**

Naruto grimaced as he limped hurriedly toward the edge of the forest outside of the walls of Konoha, trying to keep ahead of the angry villagers, and dodge their thrown items. He'd tried to escape the town by skirting around the edges near the city walls away from the main roads.

And for a few brief moments, he had thought he was in the clear, before he realized a group was waiting near the gate, forcing him to dash past them and take several blows from the bludgeoning implements they held, the Chūnin at the gate doing nothing to help him.

One hit from a long and jagged wooden stick had ripped up the leg of his orange jumpsuit, and he could feel the blood trickling down his leg even now. Apparently, they had figured out how he'd escaped the previous year, and had been waiting for him to try it again.

His breath shot out in a gasp as he felt a hard and heavy object strike his lower back and he fell to the ground coughing, the kidney blow knocking the strength out of his body. The mob quickly caught up, and he curled into a ball, sobbing silently as he weathered kicks, punches, and anything else the mob threw at him.

"Jiji, jiji," he gasped out quietly, praying for the Old Man Hokage to come and step in, something he usually did much sooner on these nights, hoping he had been at the festival.

A jarring blow to the back of the head sent his face into the dirt, a cry of "evil child" near his ear nearly deafening him, followed by another shouting "You murdered my sister!" Then he felt his hopes and spirit rise at the sudden heat at his face as a fireball flew out over the heads of the crowd.

He faintly heard an unfamiliar voice call out to the crowd. "Enough! Stop this, or you'll all be answering to the ANBU! You've had your fun, now go home and sober up."

There was a fair amount of grumbling, but another fireball, this one sustained for several long moments, changed their mind, and they grudgingly moved away, and headed back toward the safety of the city. Although not before a few got in a few last kicks as they passed him.

Naruto coughed, and then spat out some blood, before slowly and painfully rolling over onto his back as he heard the mob enter the village gates. He opened a bruised eye, saw a figure walk toward him, and eventually made it out to be a ninja wearing a Chūnin vest – apparently, the guard at the gate had decided to do something after all.

"Th-thanks," he croaked out.

The figure knelt next to him, and his eyes finally focused enough to realize it was the silver-haired instructor who had started teaching at the Academy a few months before. He'd been a bit aloof with most of the students, but had actually been pretty helpful compared to some of the others. "M-Mizuki-sensei, thank you."

He saw the silver-haired Chūnin smile at him. He wasn't sure what it was, but something about that smile seemed…. Off. Something weird. He got the answer to that moments later.

Mizuki laughed darkly. "Don't go thanking me just yet, Naruto-_kun_," he said, making the honorific sound mocking.

"Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto said questioningly.

"Are you that dumb?" He asked with a sneer. "I chased away your mob of admirers so I could have some time with you myself, demon-brat."

Naruto's eyes widened as he realized that the kind face Mizuki wore in the classroom was really just a front for… this. He scrambled back painfully, to the edge of the forest, but Mizuki easily walked along next to him before finally tiring of the game and giving him a kick to the side that left Naruto gasping.

"You see, Naruto, the Hokage isn't going to be here to help you this time like he has in the past. I have a friend in the assignment's office who made sure the ninja that like you aren't around tonight. I've got you all to myself!" He punctuated the last word with a sudden kick into Naruto's side.

Naruto's mind exploded into pain as he felt the toe of the boot dig into his stomach, and he cried out at the feeling.

"Wh-Why?" Naruto asked weakly, his hands fisting into the grass beneath him.

Mizuki pulled back and shook his head almost sadly. "You truly don't know, do you? The reason why everyone hates you? The reason _I _hate you?"

"Why?" Naruto asked again, dragging himself further away until finally he found his back up against the trunk of a large tree.

"Because of this day, and what it represents. Because of what _you_ are." Mizuki said. "The Yondaime didn't kill the Kyūbi that day, eight years ago. A demon can't be killed, at least a demon with the sheer power of the Nine Tails. It can only be sealed away. He chose to seal it away into a child that was born that day, and sacrificed his life to do so."

Naruto paled, pressing himself back against the tree as if trying to escape the thought that entered his head.

Mizuki's grin widened, and became a manic snarl. "I see you've figured it out. Yes, Naruto, _you_ are the Kyūbi. _You_ are the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. _You _destroyed this village eight years ago, and killed hundreds of our people, including my parents. Even that ramen-stand owner. He tries to deny it, and to coddle you, but I can see that deep down he despises you for what you did to this village, Demon. That's why _everyone_ hates you."

"No. Nonononononononono," Naruto started muttering quietly, almost a mantra to try to keep himself from accepting what Mizuki was saying.

But he couldn't deny it. It all made sense now. The hate-filled looks. The muttered slurs. They'd started well before he'd begun his pranks. It wasn't those that had caused the animosity, it was what was inside him. A monster. A demon.

Naruto grasped his aching stomach, tears streaming down his face, and glared up at Mizuki. "I hate _you_," he whispered weakly.

Mizuki laughed. "Good. Now, I sent those village idiots away for a reason. You were already going to die tonight in any case. I simply wanted to be the one that did it, not them, as my parting gift to Konoha before I steal their secrets and bring them to Lord Orochimaru. I'm going to kill you, Demon, and avenge all those who you murdered, and end your threat to this world. This should have been done long ago."

Naruto closed his eyes in sad acceptance as Mizuki raised a kunai, knowing that this time, unlike all the others, there was no one else to help him.

A sudden gurgle caused his eyes to snap open in time to see a bright line of scarlet appear across Mizuki's neck, blood spraying outward in a mist onto Naruto.

"You've said more than enough, Mizuki – thank you for breaking the Sandaime's Law, traitor." A low voice came from behind Mizuki, a very young voice, of someone in their early teens.

Mizuki collapsed to his knees, clutching his throat, as Naruto stared wide-eyed at him. A boot came down and knocked him onto his back so his terrified, fading gaze no longer met with Naruto's eyes.

Naruto's own gaze slowly moved up, and he saw a short young man dressed in an ANBU uniform, the only thing visible from his head aside from a slit-eyed weasel mask being his long black hair that hung to his cheeks, framing the mask.

"W-Weasel-san!" Naruto cried out, and dove forward to hug his savior tightly. "Thank you Weasel-san. H-he was going to kill me."

"Hai," the low voice behind the mask said. "But it is okay now, Naruto, he won't hurt you anymore. Come, you've had enough excitement for the night, I'll take you back to your apartment."

"Was he telling the- the truth?" Naruto questioned as the Weasel ANBU pulled away and then grabbed the younger child's hand, guiding him away from Mizuki's body.

"Hokage-sama will speak with you in the morning about what the traitor told you. There was some truth in his statement, but also lies to hurt you. I cannot speak further on the matter due to the Law in place, but Hokage-sama will explain everything." The Weasel ANBU cast an eye over Naruto's already healing cuts and bruises, and decided he'd be better off simply going to the apartment as a hospital trip would require much more effort than it was worth, dealing with reluctant doctors and nurses for injuries that would be gone by the morning.

He bent and picked up a protesting Naruto before leaping off into the city. Rather than the half an hour it would have taken walking with him, he made it to Naruto's apartment complex in under five minutes. After seeing the boy to his own apartment, he left shortly afterwards, nodding to two Chūnin stationed outside the apartment, and took off first to collect the body of Mizuki, and then to report to the Hokage.

**xxxXXX-XXXxxx**

Naruto tossed and turned in his bed, trying his best not to think about what Mizuki had told him, but was failing utterly. Was he really the Kyūbi? Why did the Yondaime chose him, of all people, to do this to? Did he deserve the hatred he received from most of the villagers, if it was true that he at least had the Kyūbi inside him?

Naruto gave a frustrated sigh and tossed his arms over his head, trying to count bowls of ramen passing in front of him to get to sleep – though only really succeeding in getting him hungry. At least Weasel-san had told him he'd be getting explanations in the morning from Hokage-Jiji.

He smiled to himself, thinking of the times Weasel-san had protected him – this was the only time he'd seen him directly kill someone, as most other times ended with them writhing in pain on the ground around him. Weasel-san was one of the few ANBU he really trusted, who responded instantly when he saw he was in danger, and the only one aside from Neko who actually talked to him whenever he saw him.

The young ANBU sometimes had even helped him since he'd started the academy the previous year, whenever he saw Naruto struggling with some Taijutsu move out on the training fields.

Naruto sighed, and tried to get back to counting bowls of ramen, his arms covering his face and preventing him from seeing the creeping danger in his room until it was too late.

He was suddenly seized, and he felt hands grip his wrists and ankles, pinning him to his bed as he looked around in panic. Two men, both dressed in ninja gear, stood over him, pinning him down from either side. One had short red hair, his eyes cold as he stared down at Naruto, and the other was a black-haired man, whose hair was cut to shoulder-length, and he had a jagged scar across his chin.

"So, looks like that pathetic Mizuki failed what he said he'd do. Guess we'll just have to finish the job. Glad the guard shift changed after he got dropped off, otherwise that little weasel would've gotten suspicious seeing me here," the black-haired man said, staring down at Naruto with reddish eyes that had strange black shapes ringing the pupil.

Naruto opened his mouth to yell, but they flipped him over violently, shoving his face into his pillow. "Yeah, let's hurry, give this demon plenty of time to fry."

Naruto felt a cool liquid splash over his back, and the corner of his eye caught sight of the other red-haired man drizzling a large bottle around the bed, and then pulling another from a seal to do the same around the room. A cloying scent filled the air and Naruto recognized it as some sort of oil or lighting fluid.

His eyes widened as he heard the other man, the one with the odd eyes, incant some sort of jutsu, and felt a warm rush of air as a fireball shot out at the base of the bed, and flames quickly licked up the oil, and roared to life across the room.

Naruto screamed out in pain – muffled by the pillow – as the flames seared across his back, pure white agony filling his senses The men laughed, using more of the same jutsu to set other parts of the room on fire as their victim writhed around on the bed trying desperately to quench the flames.

"Demon, you burned my parents to death," the red-haired man shouted, "now see how it feels!"

The room turned into an inferno as the men left, and he curled up tightly on the bed, trying to keep the flames limited only to his back as he felt them grow, and for the second time that night he begged the Kami to send Weasel-san again, or Jiji.

The flames began to not even be felt as his nerves were burnt up. He closed his eyes, and felt the tears leak from under his eyelids as he thought of the only people who had been kind to him, the faces of the Hokage, Weasel-san, and his friends at Ichiraku flashing into his mind, followed only by the faces of Hinata and her mother, before he felt his consciousness slip.

**xxxXXX-XXXxxx**

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure, sat down with a heavy sigh on a soft cushion in the more private quarter's area of the Hokage Mansion. Despite it being a festival day, and 'officially' a holiday, he'd been hard at work the entire day.

The entire morning had consisted of going over various mission reports and mission requests – there were few ANBU and Jōnin left in the village after the recent onslaught of high-level missions, and each day he sent more away. Figuring out just who he could spare and yet still keep the village guarded was a delicate balancing act, but fortunately the mission requests were slowing down and most of his ninja would be back in the next few weeks.

The rest of the day, and into the evening, he'd spent locked away with his advisors and the Shinobi Council made of a number of heads of the Clans that made up Konoha. The most trying part had been several hours with his advisors as they argued the best way to approach a growing problem in the village – the Uchiha Clan.

Hiruzen rubbed his eyes, and took a long puff on his pipe, looking up when he heard the soft sound of a Shunshin in the room. His eyes came to rest on his youngest ANBU – he still found it amazing that the Weasel-masked boy kneeling before him with his head bowed, was only 14 years old, and yet one of his best ANBU captains.

"Yes, Itachi?" He asked tiredly.

"Hokage-sama, I have troubling news. I returned from my mission half an hour ago, and found Naruto being assaulted."

Sarutobi sat up straighter. "Report," he said, his voice serious.

"He is in decent health, a number of minor injuries from a mob. They were made up of many of the usual suspects – I will make a list of those I remember in the official report." Itachi paused. "Hokage-sama, I was about to step in, when a Chūnin Academy Instructor, named Mizuki did so and chased off the mob."

After Sarutobi nodded, recalling the silver-haired man, Itachi continued. "I was going to leave Naruto in his care, when the man became threatening, apparently scaring off the mob in order to have time to murder Naruto himself."

"Where is he now?" Sarutobi asked, the look on his face and the chakra rolling off him enough to clearly show why the man had come to be known as the "God of Shinobi".

"I killed him. He confessed to changing guard schedules to get the chance to kill Naruto, and that he planned to steal some of our secrets and defect to Orochimaru afterwards."

Sarutobi sighed, feeling a heavy weight settle further onto his shoulders. "So he does plot against us, as I feared," he said quietly. "Very well, is there anything else?"

"Hai," Itachi said, looking up at Sarutobi, his mask off, and eyes serious. "He broke your law, and informed Naruto of what he contains."

Sarutobi paled, and his pipe dropped from his lips. "He told him…. Everything?"

"Mostly. He implied that Naruto was the Kyūbi itself, though – Naruto seemed to be in shock when I brought him back. I couldn't explain things to him myself due to the law, but I told him you would meet with him in the morning and explain everything."

Sarutobi nodded, a sad expression crossing his face. "I'd hoped he would be older – at the very least already a Genin – when he learned of this. I hope he is strong enough to bear the pressure of this. I'll speak with him first thing in the morning."

"I took Mizuki's body to headquarters and they're searching his possessions. I'll give you a full report after you meet with Naruto tomorrow." Itachi said.

Sarutobi sighed, and then grimaced. "My advisors are pushing me hard on the issue of your clan. I hope your father will see the light, but I fear things may soon get worse."

Itachi nodded. "I believe they may. My father is not the sort of man who budges on this sort of thing. They're getting suspicious of me, but I see enough to know he's continuing his plotting to overthrow you… Hokage-sama, know that I am loyal only to you. If you must make that decision… I will take care of my clan for you – no need to lose anyone else in the process."

"I know Itachi, and I thank you for your loyalty. Are you sure you can do it? Your own clan?"

"Hai," Itachi said, bowing his head. "They are leading themselves to destruction. If they must be cleansed, I want to be the one who does it."

"Very well, though I hope things turn out be-"

"Hokage-sama!" a voice interrupted him with a shout as the door to his room burst open. A young Chūnin who he recognized as one of the late-night guards of the Hokage Mansion, entered the room.

"G-gomen"," he said, eyes widening when he realized the Sandaime was in a meeting. "But I just got word – there is an enormous apartment-building fire in the West District – Hokage-sama, I'm told that it is Uzumaki Naruto's building. Three are confirmed dead, and a number are missing, including the boy – they're working on the blaze but can't get close enough to the center apartments, where it appears the blaze started."

Sarutobi shot up off the cushion with a speed that belied his old age, and grasped Itachi's arm, as the young man moved his mask back onto his face. "Thank you," the Sandaime said to the Chūnin, before both he and Itachi disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

They re-appeared moments later, at the site of a towering inferno that had enveloped the entire apartment building, and was already spreading to another nearby. Shinobi desperately battled the flames trying to catch on the second building, and many more concentrated on what amounted to a 'bucket line'. The closest water source was a small pond several hundred meters away, so they had formed several lines of those proficient in water jutsu to transport jets of water from one ninja to the next until they launched out in long streams at the base of the fire.

"Hokage-sama!" A cry went up from the ninja and civilians who were battling the blaze.

One of the ninja directing them, Shikaku Nara, walked swiftly over to them – a rare sight from the normally lazy Jōnin clan-head. "Sandaime, we've accounted for almost everyone. Some of the ones reported missing were accounted for by neighbors who say they were not in the village. The only one unaccounted for is Uzumaki Naruto, and it appears the blaze started in his apartment. I only hope he was not here tonight-"

Itachi shook his head. "I just returned him to his apartment not an hour ago after an attack on his life."

"Troublesome. I had hoped it wasn't the case, but we are also unable to find the two Chūnin guards who were to watch the apartment. Do you believe- "

Sarutobi nodded once. "It isn't a coincidence."

He strode forward, his hands flashing through several dozen handsigns as everyone stepped back. "_**Suiton: Suihachi**__ (Water Release: Water Bowl)_" Sarutobi said as the handsigns were completed and he thrust both palms outward.

A torrent of water as thick as a large tree-trunk shot from his hands as he walked forward, toward the flames. "With me, Weasel!" He commanded.

Itachi darted forward, following behind his leader as the water sent up billows of steam wherever it hit, and they pushed together slowly into the inferno, falling pieces of the building blocking their way behind them.

The stairs were gone, utterly collapsed, so they had to leap up to the next floor to get access to Naruto's apartment.

Sarutobi let the pulsing pillar of water launch down the hall, extinguishing much of the flames, before the jet of water itself died out. Sarutobi frowned. "There is no more moisture in the air here to draw on." He said as they neared the flame-covered door of Naruto's apartment.

"Hai, leave it to me, Hokage-sama."

Itachi yanked open the door, bringing his fingers to his mouth as he breathed out. "_**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu**__ (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu)._ An enormous, orange ball of fire launched from his mouth and across the apartment before hitting the wall on the other side.

Almost immediately, the leaping flames in the room snuffed out, the large fire jutsu starving them completely of their oxygen.

Itachi dashed inside with Sarutobi, toward Naruto's bedroom. Itachi used the jutsu once more, killing most of the fire. A stench of burning flesh filled the air, and they found Naruto curled into a ball on his bed, the skin of his back burnt badly, but now being protected by an angry-red aura of chakra that began to dissipate with the lack of fire.

"Take him to the hospital!" Sarutobi ordered swiftly. "I'll be there as soon as I can, after I help them put out this fire."

Itachi nodded, gathered the unconscious and badly burnt boy into his arms, and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

**xxxXXX—XXXxxx**

**xxxXXX—XXXxxx**

**xxxXXX—XXXxxx**

_**A/N: **Hey again everyone, hope you liked it and that I'm off to a decent start. Hinata's mother, Hitomi, is a character of my own creaton since there has been nothing more than a picture of her in the anime. I'm guessing she passed away at some time in the story, but she'll be living after this point in my fic. BTW, her name "Hitomi" was chosen because it sounded good (a good "H" letter name for the Main family), and only afterwards I found out it means either "beautiful" or "pupil of the eye" – both quite fitting for her._

_Now, this isn't going to be a Super-Naruto fic. Naruto will, over time, grow smarter and better. At best it will be a Smart! Or Talented! Naruto fic. _

_I got the whole idea reading the Manga and reading about Uzushiogakure, and how they were well-known for Seals (Fūinjutsu), and decided to write a fic where Naruto continued the legacy of his ancestors (especially when his dad was also a genius at seals). So there'll be a lot of seal-making and seal-use in the fic, though that won't be all he relies on._

_As far as pairings go, I'm of the mind that Naruto deserves at least a few girls who truly love him. As someone in a plural relationship in real life, I'll be writing the same for our knuckleheaded ninja. Right now all I'll reveal is that it will be Naruto/Hinata/?/?. I've already decided on who the two other girls will be (and the third won't come until after Chūnin exams), so please don't make requests – he'll be with three girls, and they're already chosen and that's set in stone. I'll update the summary as each girl is revealed._

_Anyway, hope you've enjoyed, and I'll update soon – second chapter is already done and in for editing, and I'm starting on the third. Updates won't come super fast after the second one, but hopefully once a week._

_Please review and let me know what you think!_


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the related characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, and various animation and production studios/companies. If I did I'd be dang rich. This is written solely for entertainment, not for any form of money.**

_A/N: Hey everyone, back with the second chapter. Naruto gets to meet an entity within himself, and learns about his ancestry. Thanks for all the great reviews last time, all you who reviewed. Have fun with this chap, please read and review!_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2 - Meeting<strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Konohagakure, Land of Fire – 8 Years after defeat of Kyūbi no Yōko<strong>_

Naruto blinked when he suddenly found himself in the sewers of Konoha, in a room with an enormous metal gate. The bars gleamed in the dim light, and a large piece of paper, reading "seal", crossed over the two doors.

Another thing he noticed was the complete and utter lack of pain, and a quick pat check showed his clothing intact and skin unburned, so clearly he wasn't in the real world. The question was – was this a dream? Or was he dead?

He heard the sound of _very _heavy breathing coming from behind the bars, hidden in the shadows of the cell. He crept forward carefully, wondering what could be making so much noise – could it be, somehow, the Kyūbi sealed inside him?

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a soft clearing of a throat behind him. He whirled around, only to find himself facing a beautiful woman in her early thirties looking back at him, standing barefoot in the cold water covering the floor.

She was tall – relative to him at least – and wore a long, flowing red kimono with flower print across the front, held by a dark obi tied around her waist – and did little to hide some rather impressive curves, the sort he'd seen in magazines while researching his _Oiroke no Jutsu_ to deal with perverted adults.

She had long red hair – so long it reached down her back and nearly to her calves – that seemed to flicker and shine in the dim light of the room. It framed her face neatly, held back on the left side with a hair-clip. Her face was kind, a warm smile across it. Her bright violet eyes contrasted starkly with her pale, crème-colored skin, and twinkled at him as she stared down at him.

Naruto took a step back, eyes widening, and he jabbed a finger out, pointing at the woman. "K-Kyūbi? What the hell? You're a woman?"

The woman stepped forward and swiftly bonked him lightly on the head with her fist. "Baka! Do I look like a fox?"

Naruto winced, and rubbed his head. "Ano, I guess not. Then who are you?"

The woman blushed slightly, and then scratched the back of her head nervously in a disturbingly familiar manner. "Hehe, sorry about that, I can have a short fuse sometimes. I hoped you'd get your father's temperament, but I've seen that you have mine."

Naruto gaped at her, his mind trying to process what she was saying.

"Naruto," the woman said, smiling and placing a hand on his cheek. "I'm Kushina Uzumaki – I'm your mother, _dattebane_!"

Naruto's head jerked back, face frozen for several long moments. "K-Kaa-san?"

She smiled warmly and nodded, tears visible in her eyes. She was almost knocked over backwards as he slammed into her, hugging her so tightly she almost couldn't breathe.

She heard him mumbling "Kaa-san" over and over into the fabric of her kimono, as sobs wracked his smaller frame, and that knocked her over the edge as she joined him, resting her chin on his head, her tears streaming down to land on his wild blond hair that reminded her so much of Minato's.

She'd been forced to watch him grow up, forced to experience everything he had, every hate-filled look, every nasty mutter, every fist and broken bottle thrown, and now, _finally_ she could take him into her arms for the first time since he had been born, and simply hold him.

This hadn't been the life they'd wanted for him, hadn't been the life they'd planned, but they hadn't expected those in the village to behave like this. They hadn't expected them to not have been told just who Naruto was, the son of the Yondaime, the person protecting the village from the Kyūbi.

She didn't know, and didn't care, how much time had passed, but eventually, Naruto pulled back, sniffling and wiping at his eyes. "Kaa-san, is this real? Are you… d-dead?" He asked softly, looking up at her with pained blue eyes.

"Hai, Naruto-kun, this is all real. And… yes, my physical body died years ago."

Naruto looked down. "So I'm dead too? They finally got what they wanted?"

Kushina choked back a sob, and tilted his chin up with both hands, leaning down to softly kiss his forehead. "No, you're not dead, Naruto, and they didn't win. You're unconscious now, and you're here in your own mind."

"H-How are you here then? Am I going crazy?"

"No. I'm really here, or at least my spirit is. I was sealed in here along with the Kyūbi – I… I'm sorry you had to learn about it the way you did."

Naruto smiled slightly at the fact that she really was there with him, and this wasn't just some dream or figment of his imagination, but then his grin faded. "Kaa-san, why? Why did the Yondaime choose _me_ to seal the Kyūbi in? Was I bad? Did he hate me, or hate you or tou-san?"

Kushina cut him off by placing a finger over his lips. "Shh, it wasn't like that, Naruto-kun. You're simply continuing a tradition – you're not the first Uzumaki that has held the Kyūbi," she said softly.

He looked at her in shock. "I-I'm not? Who else? I didn't know there were others?"

Kushina grinned widely. "You take after me in more than just personality and love of ramen, Naruto-kun. I was the second container – we're called Jinchūriki, which means the 'power of human sacrifice'. Mito Uzumaki was the first – she sealed it up inside herself when Madara Uchiha brought it to battle the Shodai Hokage. She ended up marrying the Shodai, so we're actually related to the first two Hokage, distantly."

"I was sent from my birth village, to Konoha, to become the next container when Mito grew too old. I… I would have stayed the container, but my own seal became weak when I gave birth to you, and that same evil man, Madara Uchiha, attacked and freed the Kyūbi, and we had to seal it in someone else."

"Wow," Naruto whispered in wonder, realizing his mother had been the same as him, easing any fears he had that Mizuki had been right about him being a demon himself. "But, why-"

Kushina grinned and ruffled his hair with her hand. "See, told ya you're impatient like me. The Yondaime would only seal the Kyūbi in someone he trusted completely, someone he knew could handle the Kyūbi, and control its power to protect the village. That's why he placed it inside of you, my Naru-kun. Who could he trust more than… his son?"

Naruto's eyes flew open, and he teetered dangerously at the brain overload, and Kushina gently helped him sit down before he passed out – at least as much as he could in his own unconscious state.

"The Yondaime… the Yondaime is my father?" Naruto asked, feeling numb. He had always looked up to the near-mythical figure of the Yondaime, wanted to be like him, protect the village with everything he had, wanted to even surpass him to become the greatest Hokage in history, and now he found out he was not only related to the first two Hokages, but was actually the son of his idol?

"You'd better believe it, _dattebane_!" Kushina exclaimed, and then glomped onto him. "You look so much like Minato when he was a kid!"

She glanced down when she felt wet droplets land on her chest. "Naru-kun, what's wrong?" She asked, as tears flowed freely down his cheeks.

He gave her a bright smile. "N-nothing kaa-san, I'm just so happy, you're here, and I know who my dad was…. You didn't abandon me for being a monster like everyone at the orphanage used to say…"

Kushina grimaced as she remembered the cruel things so many had told him, and smiled sadly at him. "No, Naru-kun, I could never abandon you. Your dad was so proud of you, and he'd be even more proud if he could see you today. And I've never been so proud of anyone as I have been watching you grow up. We – we never thought they'd treat you like that. Just watching you every day made me _wish_ I were out there and still alive, _wish _I could hurt all those people who hurt you. I'm so sorry, Naru-kun, that you had to go through so much pain and loneliness."

**xxxXXX—XXXxxx**

Naruto nodded slowly, tightening his hug for a few moments. "It's okay kaa-san, you didn't know. And I'm doing alright anyway, and now I'll keep trying to make you proud of me, _dattebayo_!" He said with a large grin.

Kushina kissed his forehead lightly. "I am glad your father and I decided to change the seal at the last minute, so I can be here for you in some way."

"Ano," Naruto said, his face scrunched up in thought. "The Kyūbi is in here, but how did you get here?"

Kushina nodded, and sat down, pulling Naruto onto her lap, nearly crying in happiness at finally being able to do it.

"Naru-kun, we Uzumaki have special gifts, that we pass down from parent to child. They're special powers – I'm sure you know others in your class like that, like that pale-eyed girl, Hinata, and her family's Byakugan?"

Naruto nodded, and then his face lit up. "Y'mean we have cool eye powers too?"

Kushina shook her head. "No, our powers are not dojutsu like theirs, ours are spirit and mind powers. The Uzumaki Clan has enormous chakra reserves – something that will be even larger with the Kyūbi inside you. Our mind powers involve sealing, like the seal on your stomach, or on an explosive tag."

She paused for a moment, making sure he was grasping what she said – she knew at times he could be a bit dense, but was glad he seemed to be following her explanation.

"The art of sealing, and seal-making is called Fūinjutsu, and our bloodline helps our minds develop so we have an almost natural understanding of seals. We still have to learn the basics, but we eventually are able to simply make up seals just by thinking of the effect we want from them."

"So, I'm gonna be a really-really-really smart ninja and able to invent cool seal stuff? Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed.

Kushina chuckled softly. "Something like that, Naruto. But it is our chakra, our energy powers, that make us even more special. We're able to create chains of pure chakra, and with enough practice, use them to temporarily seal things until we can construct an actual seal to take care of them."

Kushina sighed. "That's what I was forced to use on the Kyūbi that night. I was weak from giving birth, and the Kyūbi being ripped from its seal, and when I used the chains to protect you and your father it was too much for my body to handle. That's when Minato and I decided to try sealing me in with the Kyūbi while I was binding it."

"We'd thought of the possibility but had no idea if it would work or not. The original plan was for your father to use the seal and a ceremony to call forth the Shinigami and seal away the Yin half of the Kyūbi's chakra along with himself in the Shinigami's realm, and the Yang half within yourself."

"Instead, he took the Kyūbi's soul, its mind, down with him, and sealed me and _all _of the Kyūbi's power inside of you. Right now you have little to fear – the Kyūbi is little more than a mindless beast, without the intelligence that made it so dangerous. Now that the seal has been weakened enough, I'll always be able to help you, and from now on I can help supply the Kyūbi's chakra to you if you ever need it, and help you to control and use it."

Naruto pouted, his eyes squinted, and she had to resist the urge to pounce on him and pinch his cheeks for being so cute. "Sooooo, the Kyūbi is just stupid now because tou-san took its brain, and left you in here to help me control it instead of a baka fox?"

Kushina nodded, and sighed, pulling him closer, letting him rest his back against her chest as she hugged him tightly. "But now we have to talk about your future, Naru-kun. You were badly injured by those two men, and it's taking a lot to heal you. I… I'm not sure how bad the scarring will be, but there will be some with this bad of an injury to your back."

Naruto shrugged. "It's okay, kaa-san, I've got some already, one more won't hurt."

Kushina blinked back a tear. "That's what I want you to talk about. I'm going to train you."

Naruto's eyes widened to the size of ramen cups. "Really?" He leapt up off of her lap, and started jumping around the room, cheering. "Woohoo, you're gonna teach me to be a super-powerful Ninja, right kaa-san? This is gonna be awesome!"

Kushina's eyes sparkled as she watched his antics fondly, and waited until he eventually calmed down.

"Yes, Naruto," she said holding down a chuckle. "But… It is going to be _very_ hard. You'll have to do everything I ask you to, even if it's boring to you. You'll have to train every day after the Academy, and even some before, and _pay attention_ to what you're being taught while you're in school."

Naruto pouted slightly. "Aw, man, I guess I can…."

Kushina grabbed his hands in hers, and looked into his eyes. "I need you to grow strong for me, Naru-kun, and I need you to do it fast. Right now there's a limit to how much of the Kyūbi's power I can use to help you, so if you get hurt very badly you could die. You'll be able to handle more when your older, but right now you need to grow strong enough to protect yourself while I can't." A tear rolled down her cheek, and she swiped it away.

"Maa, maa, don't cry, kaa-san, I'll do it, I'll train for you, and get really strong." Naruto said, feeling a flash of guilt he'd never felt before for causing her to cry like that. And a stab of happiness that he actually had someone now that _would_ cry like that for him.

"Thank you, _musuko_, I would hate it if you died and I couldn't help you. I love you, Naru-kun," she whispered softly.

Naruto sat completely still, mouth opened in shock at hearing those words that he'd always wanted to hear someone say to him, before his face crumpled, and he dove into her open arms, crying softly. "I-I love you too, kaa-san."

She hummed a low tune softly in his ear, stroking his hair gently until he started to calm once more. "Now, it's time to wake up," she said quietly, and felt him tense, about to protest. "Don't worry, I'll still be here, and now that the seal is weaker I can talk to you while you're awake, too. Now we just have to explain things to the Sandaime, and figure out your training…."

**xxxXXX-XXXxxx**

_**Konoha Hospital, Konohagakure, Land of Fire **_

"The burns are very bad, Hokage-sama, but he's healing as quickly as he usually does. Anyone else would be dead or near-death right now," Itachi said, standing next to the bed that contained young Naruto who at the moment looked more like a mummy with blond hair poking up through his bandages, than the young boy they both knew so well.

A nearby heart monitor beeped softly and slowly, and Itachi rested tensely in one of the chairs at the bedside, alert for any further assassination attempts, feeling guilty for missing the one that had landed the boy here.

Also putting him on edge was the hospital staff itself, and as usual when he'd burst into the hospital, he'd practically had to force the doctors to treat Naruto, until finally one of the head doctors came to the main floor to see what the uproar was about – he was one of the few there who actually cared about his oath when it came to 'the demon', and provided care to the best of his ability.

Sarutobi sighed, fiddling with his unlit pipe between his fingers – he'd already been firmly scolded by the head doctor about smoking not being allowed in the hospital. "It seems what we feared is truly the case – once we extinguished the fire, we determined that it happened inside Naruto's apartment, near his bed. And we still don't know where his Chūnin guard is – I have several men looking through the schedules to figure out who they were."

"They are growing bolder, Hokage-sama." Itachi said quietly.

Sarutobi nodded, and opened his mouth to speak, when the heart monitor changed its beeping rhythm, becoming faster each second. He turned to look at Naruto, and was greeted by a slow opening of the boy's bright blue eyes.

Naruto blinked rapidly, before his vision cleared and his eyes came to rest on Sarutobi and Itachi. He moved, trying to push himself up in the hospital bed, and managed that while achieving a hiss of pain and an agonized groan as the bandages moved against his burns.

Sarutobi was saddened that he had developed enough of a pain threshold to not even cry out at what would have sent even many Shinobi into a scream. "Naruto-kun, how are you feeling?"

"Hurts," Naruto mumbled.

"I'm sure it does, but you are healing quickly. Naruto, did you see who did this to you? The fire seems to have been started inside your apartment." Itachi said softly.

Naruto nodded painfully. "Th-there were two of them, dressed like ninja. They held me down and poured oil or something on me and my bed, and used fire jutsu on me."

Sarutobi frowned, barely keeping a leash on the killing intent that was trying to escape him – he didn't want to scare Naruto while he was like this. "What did they look like, Naruto?"

Naruto closed his eyes for several moments, and Sarutobi started to lean forward to make sure he hadn't slipped into unconsciousness, when he started to talk. "One, he had really short red hair. He said I burned his parents so he was gonna burn me…" A tear trickled out of Naruto's closed eyelid, and ran down his cheek as he thought back to the incident. "T-the other one had these creepy red eyes with black stuff around the center – his hair was black and was at his shoulders, and he had a weird scar that went back and forth on his chin."

Itachi's hands clenched into fists, and Sarutobi could see even with his ANBU mask on, that he was enraged and knew exactly who had attacked Naruto.

"Hokage-sama, he described Uchiha Michi, a distant cousin of mine, and his friend Deguchi Ren, a civilian-born Shinobi. They must be the Chūnin that were on watch who are missing now. May I have leave to hunt them down?" Itachi said, voice low and angry.

"Yes," Sarutobi said with a sigh. "But take them alive, and leave them with Ibiki. Tell him 'no restrictions'. He'll take care of the rest."

Itachi bowed, and then disappeared in a flurry of leaves.

"Jiji?" Naruto questioned, his voice sounding old, much older than any child should sound. "W-why didn't you tell me?"

Sarutobi sighed again, and raised a hand. "Just a moment."

He walked over to the hospital door, and turned the lock, ensuring it wouldn't open and break the privacy seals he had already set up on the room when he'd arrived. He walked back over to Naruto's bedside, and sank into one of the chairs next to it.

"I'm truly sorry, Naruto. I planned to wait until you became a ninja to tell you about the Kyūbi, when I was sure you could handle the news. I want to be clear, so _you _now – you aren't the Kyūbi. Mizuki lied when he said that. You simply contain it, and protect us from it."

Naruto nodded. "I already know that, Jiji. I understand why you didn't tell me 'bout the Kyūbi. I was talking about… Why'd you lie to me? You told me you didn't know who my kaa-san and tou-san were, when I asked you. Why didn't you tell me?" Naruto asked, tears on his cheeks and a look of betrayal in his eyes.

Sarutobi looked at him with a mixture of confusion and dread. "Naruto, what are you talking about?"

"You _lied_ to me," Naruto said. "You knew my tou-san was the Yondaime, and my kaa-san was Kushina Uzumaki. You made me think I was just an orphan whose parents didn't care about him, Jiji. Why didn't you tell me the truth?"

Sarutobi rocked back in his chair, looking pale. "Naruto, where did you learn that? Who told you that – that is a secret _very_ few know about."

Naruto looked away for a moment, his words confirming the old man had known. "My seal got weakened when I almost died."

Sarutobi sat forward. "You spoke to the Kyūbi? Naruto, that is very dangerous – please tell me you didn't make any agreements with it – the Kyūbi is a trickster, and can't be trusted."

Naruto scoffed. "The Kyūbi? It's a stupid bunch of chakra without a brain. Tou-san made sure of that. Probably can't even talk. I talked to kaa-san."

"Kushina?" Sarutobi muttered. "Naruto, the Kyūbi is likely tricking you into believing that."

*_Tell him where I was in your dreamscape, outside of the seal_,* Kushina's voice echoed in Naruto's mind, and he smiled, glad she'd been right about being able to talk to him.

"The Kyūbi was stuck inside its cage, sleeping like the stupid lazy baka it is. Kaa-san was outside of it, Jiji, on my side of the seal. She said the Yondaime decided at the last minute to take the Kyūbi's soul instead of part of its power, so he sealed her in to help me control it." Naruto paused as his mother spoke again in his head, and then blushed. "Kaa-san says to stop being a stubborn old monkey."

Sarutobi's eyes widened at the familiar retort she had used when she was angry with him. Could it really be possible? He knew Minato and Kushina were geniuses when it came to seals, but could Minato really have rendered the Kyūbi basically harmless, and sealed his own dying wife inside?

"Chakra chains," Naruto muttered at the prompting of his mother, who had a good idea of what Sarutobi was thinking given his expression.

Sarutobi frowned, mulling the idea over in his mind, knowing the Uzumaki's _Kisaifūin _kekkei genkai was powerful – Mito Uzumaki had used the chakra chain ability to hold the Kyūbi in place to seal it inside herself – so it was a very real possibility that Minato could have used the temporary seal the chains created to bind her soul into Naruto as well. The fact that she had appeared outside of the Kyūbi's cage, and the fact that he'd already checked to make sure his seal was still intact albeit not as strong, was pretty decent evidence that this wasn't the kitsune playing tricks.

"Is it really you, Kushina? You can hear her, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded. "Yup! She says it's really her, and that you're lucky she doesn't have a body now because if she did she'd shove her foot so far up your-" Naruto stopped, eyes widening in shock as she apparently finished the sentence in his head. "Kaa-san! I can't say that to him!"

Sarutobi shook his head and chuckled. "It's alright, Naruto, I get the idea."

Naruto blushed brightly, and looked down. "Anyway, she's mad at how I grew up and how everyone treats me."

Sarutobi sighed sadly and rubbed at his forehead. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I didn't tell you about your parents because I wanted to protect you. I was worried that enemies of your father would hear he had a son, and hunt you down. But… I could have at least told you about your mother, and for that I am truly sorry."

Naruto glanced away, barely hiding the hurt on his face. The man he'd thought of as a grandfather had lied to him. He could have even said _something_, like that he knew who his parents were but couldn't tell him yet. _Anything_ would have been better than not knowing.

*_Naru-kun, he- he made a mistake. I'm still angry with him too, but I don't think he meant to hurt you. But you need to let him know that you're going to take on your father's name and legacy and re-establish both our clans. Let him work for our forgiveness,_* Kushina said.

Naruto sighed, and looked back over to the Hokage who looked the oldest Naruto had ever seen. "Jiji.. I understand. I'm still a little mad, but I understand. But kaa-san is going to help me train, and get stronger, and when I graduate and become a ninja, I'm _not_ gonna hide who I am anymore. Ev'ryone's gonna know I'm Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, son of the Yondaime, and that's a promise, dattebayo!"

Sarutobi winced, knowing that Naruto wouldn't be backing down from that promise. '_Ah, well, at least it will be four or five years for him to grow strong enough to help protect himself. I'll have to work on strengthening our defenses – many won't like the news that the Son of the Yellow Flash is alive._' He smirked slightly. '_Though I can't wait to see the faces of the Village on the day I announce that the boy they've mistreated for years is the son of their hero._'

"Very well, Naruto, I'll have a few years to work on a plan to deal with the dangers that may come with announcing that. For now, we have to figure out where to have you stay…. I'm sorry but the entire apartment building burned down. Right now everyone is rushing to find someplace to stay, so it'll be difficult to find you a new place."

Naruto was silent for a moment, thinking of everything he lost in the blaze, and then perked his head to the side as his mother spoke to him. He looked up. "Jiji, kaa-san says you have to give me her old house that she stayed in when she first came here, until everyone finds out I'm a Namikaze."

Sarutobi's eyes lit up and he nodded. "Of course, very good idea. It's a small house, but bigger than your apartment. I'll give you some money to get it back in shape, and get some new clothes and anything else you lost."

"Kaa-san also says that she wants you to give me a tutor, to help me out besides what she's gonna do. She said someone called Yūgao?"

Sarutobi frowned. "She's an ANBU now, and may not have much time for training, but I'll do what I can to convince her to do that work on a more part-time basis and give you some help."

He wouldn't normally do that, but Kushina seemed convinced he needed the help, and he owed it to her and to Naruto. It made him begin to wonder if he was being taught properly in the Academy. Perhaps a look with his 'telescope jutsu', more often at least, was called for.

Sarutobi patted Naruto's leg. "I have to go now, I'll be back in the morning. The doctor said if you feel up to it you can get out of here tomorrow afternoon. You'll be able to go to the Academy the day after if you wear your bandages then."

Naruto nodded eagerly – he'd come to the hospital so much he hated being stuck in it.. "Okay, Jiji. Can you show me my new place tomorrow?"

Sarutobi nodded, and then stood, placing the end of his pipe into his mouth. "Rest well, Naruto." He walked slowly out of the room, still seeing the betrayal in Naruto's eyes even as he left. He knew it would take a lot to get his full trust again – that was something Naruto gave freely, but if it was betrayed, he was loath to give it back again.

*_Well, that went better than I'd expected,* _Kushina said. *_Naruto, what I'm going to teach you, you're going to have to limit how much you show off in school. I don't want anyone getting any ideas with you suddenly getting much stronger._*

"Aww, c'mon, kaa-san, what's the point of getting stronger if I can't show Kiba and Sasuke and the others that make fun of me how strong I really am?"

_*Because, Naru-kun, then they will underestimate you. They'll think you are weak, and when you need it you can surprise everyone. Besides, you don't have to hide everything. You can do better with your target practice, or your school work, or even show some of the basic Taijutsu I'll teach you, enough that you don't have the worst grades anymore. The Sandaime will know, if Yūgao teaches you, and he's the only one who really matters because he's the one that decides teams. Even if you don't have the best grades and don't show everything at the Academy, he'll know how strong you really are.*_

Naruto thought that over for a long moment, remembering Iruka-sensei talking about being a ninja being all about deception. "O-okay kaa-san, as long as I get to still show off some."

He could almost hear her smile as she responded.

*_Besides, I want to see their faces when I let you go all-out on the graduation exam, and show you're better than all of them,*_ she said in his head, before cackling madly.

Naruto sweatdropped.

*_Hehe, sorry, Naru-kun, got a little carried away. Er, you should get some sleep now, so I can get your body healing faster._*

Naruto yawned, and winced as he shifted again on the bed into a more comfortable position for sleeping. "Okay kaa-san, g'nite."

*_Good night, musuko, I love you.*_ She said.

He smiled to himself as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the warm feeling that bubbled up through his chest at finally being able to hear those words.

**xxxXXX—XXXxxx**

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**xxxXXX-XXXxxx**

**xxxXXX—XXXxxx**

_**A/N: **__Well, hope you liked it (hope I surprised you a bit with who the woman in his mind was). I've never seen a Naruto fic that has Kushina 'survive' in this way. Usually I'll see a fic with Kushina showing up alive, or being brought to life, so I decided to go a different route (and also I wanted to not bring in the whole Female Kyūbi in his head thing which has gotten a little old for me)._

_So, Naruto meets his mom and finds out a bit about his bloodline. Basically __**Kisaifūin**__ (translates crudely to Great Talent of Seals) is more of a mental thing, easing someone's understanding of seals and their workings. It's something that you still have to work for, and work to keep up, but basically it gives you an aptitude toward the sealing arts. That and I decided to put Kushina's chakra chains into another perspective using the bloodline._

_Hope you like my little change with how the Kyūbi was sealed. That is one thing that bugs me with the series – half of the Kyūbi is sealed in Shinigami's stomach, so I really don't know how Pein's plans were going to work, nor Madara/Akatsuki's plans are going to work. _

_Sure Madara could make the Juubi somehow, but it wouldn't be as powerful as the beast that the Sage of Six Paths was Jinchūriki for, because it'd be missing half of the most powerful demon that makes it up. And we've already seen confirmation from someone(Kabuto I think) that even Impure Resurrection can't bring back someone that's sealed in Shinigami, so in the series Kyūbi seems to be permanently stuck at half power. Perhaps Kishimoto will pull something out of a hat, but right now it doesn't make sense to me, so I decided to go this route (one I also haven't seen before)._

_Anyway, next chapter, Naruto gets a new home, goes to the academy starts a bit of training, and meets Yūgao (depending how the chap goes on this last one, could be the chap after). Please review, until next week, Ja ne!_

_**Translations:**_

_**Musuko = '(my) son'**  
><em>


	3. Chapter 3: Home

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of the related characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, and various animation and production studios/companies. If I did I'd be dang rich. This is written solely for entertainment, not for any form of money.**

_A/N: Hello everyone, hope you had a good week Thanks for all the great reviews last time, there was an overwhelmingly great response and I'm glad to see you're all liking the story. Enjoy the chapter, and please read and review!_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: Home<strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Hokage's Office, Konohagakure, Land of Fire<strong>_

Sarutobi leaned back in his seat, setting down the A-ranked mission report he had been reading, when a knock came at his door, and then his secretary stuck her head in as she opened the large doors.

"Sandaime-sama, Hitomi Hyūga is here requesting an audience with you. She wouldn't say what it was about."

Sarutobi puffed lightly on his pipe for a moment, and then exhaled, sending the smoke out in a ring. Anything to interrupt the dreary day of paperwork in front of him. "Send her in."

"Hai, Sandaime-sama." She said, and turned back, retreating to her desk.

Moments later, a regally dressed Hitomi Hyūga stepped into his office, closing the door behind her. The beautiful blue-haired woman was a rarely seen figure in the village clan politics, largely due to her health problems over the last eight years, so it was a bit of a surprise to see her out and about.

"Hokage-sama," she said, bowing respectfully.

"Hitomi," he greeted. "It is good to see you; I believe it's been nearly a year, hasn't it?"

"Yes," she said, nodding.

"I'd expected to see Hiashi if anyone, but I'm glad you seem to be getting healthier."

Hitomi smiled. "Yes, I'm getting better every day. Hiashi was going to come with me, but a clan issue came up, and he is in conference with the clan elders. I came to speak with you about a boy – Uzumaki Naruto."

Sarutobi forced back a groan. If Naruto had been pranking the Hyūga yesterday, this whole meeting could turn into one big headache.

"What would you like to discuss about him?" Sarutobi asked.

"His welfare."

Sarutobi blinked in surprise at the unexpected answer. "His welfare?"

Hitomi nodded. "Yes. Last evening I was walking with my daughters to attend the festival, and I ran into him, or rather, he ran into Hinata. He was being _chased_ by… the only word for it is an angry mob." Her hands clenched slightly into fists, surprising Sarutobi – the Hyūga were well known for hiding their emotions in public.

"They were all drunk, and a number of them came _very_ dangerously close to breaking your law in the presence of my daughters, with what they were saying. Naruto looked scared for his life and I do not blame him. He ran away from us, telling me that he didn't want them to 'hurt us' as well for helping him out, so this obviously is not the first time this has happened. Were I healthier, I could have done something, but as I couldn't risk my daughters there, so I decided to talk to Hiashi and take this to your attention…."

She paused for a moment. "What I _didn't_ expect, was to hear from Hiashi this morning that this mob somehow managed to nearly succeed at killing him, or that someone burned down his apartment. Hokage-sama, with all due respect, what exactly are you doing about this? No boy should have to live like that, and be treated like that."

Sarutobi sighed, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "There's only so much I can do, Hitomi. Naruto is… rather headstrong and independent, so he does not make it easy for anyone I assign to guard him. And as much as I would love to be able to assign a 24-hour army of guards, I can't. You and I both know we are still recovering our forces from the Kyūbi's attack, and I simply can't spare the manpower for that large of a watch and still keep funds coming in through missions."

He looked at her and she was struck by how depressed he looked. "I hate seeing him hurt, but I can't protect him from everything." He said.

"Then let me." Hitomi said. "I would like to request permission to adopt him."

Sarutobi's eyes widened to comically large proportions – that was the last thing he'd been expecting to hear when she'd come in. But then he frowned, and his face became more serious. "I'm afraid we both know that is impossible. Your clan is… well known for worrying more about its own affairs than those of others in the village. The councils would have to agree on such an adoption, as Naruto is not yet a ninja, and still classified a civilian. I don't think the Civilian Council and even a number among the Shinobi Council would ever cede a boy with such a dangerous power off to your clan or _any_ clan for that matter." He sighed sadly. "And I doubt most of the civilians would want him to have a family of any type, let alone yours."

Hitomi's shoulders drooped. "That's what Hiashi said, but I'd hoped you'd have an idea of how to get around that."

Sarutobi shook his head. "I will think on the matter, but there is little I can do at the moment. As much as I wish being Hokage gave me complete authority over everything in the village, our village was designed to be different than a dictatorship like Iwagakure. On civilian matters, unless it affects ninja in some way, I can only do so much."

Hitomi heaved a frustrated sigh. "Then… at least tell me where I can find him. If I can't bring him in, the least I can do is give him a few home-cooked dinners during the week. His eyes… he's so lonely. I… Let me help him."

Sarutobi smiled. "That, I can arrange. Though not until tomorrow. Most have not heard, but he is in the hospital. The fire in his apartment was a second attempt on his life."

Hitomi paled slightly. "Is he okay?"

He sighed. "As best as can be expected. He was burnt rather badly, but his tenant seems to be taking care of the damage. Emotionally… he's doing better than I'd expected."

'_Meeting his mother inside of him being the cause of that,_' he mused to himself.

Sarutobi took a scrap of parchment, and scribbled down an address. "He's moving here tonight, but I'll be treating him to dinner. You can visit tomorrow if you'd like – I'm sure he'd welcome the company."

Hitomi took the parchment and then bowed. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi nodded slightly. '_If you can help Naruto where I cannot, that's all the thanks I'll need._' He thought to himself as he watched her go.

**xxxXXX-XXXxxx**

_**Konoha Hospital, Konohagakure, Land of Fire**_

Naruto slept in much longer than he usually did, not waking until the next afternoon, and then only with his mother's voice in his head insisting he wake up.

"Mm, I'm up," he groaned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and immediately noticing that movement hurt much less than it had the previous night.

"That's good to hear," the Sandaime's voice came from the doorway. "Would you like to go to your new home, Naruto?"

Naruto leapt up from the bed, ignoring the fact that he was still wearing a hospital gown and covered in bandages, and threw his fist up into the air. "Of course! Let's go!"

Sarutobi chuckled. "Get dressed, and we will go. You need to keep your bandages on, but they can come off tomorrow evening."

He left the room, leaving Naruto to hurry over to where an orange jumpsuit laid waiting, and slowly pulled it on over his bandages, only feeling twinges of pain as he moved instead of the stabbing he'd felt the day before.

*_We're going to have to get you some new clothes, too.*_

"Okay, kaa-san," he muttered softly as he finished pulling on the shirt, and walked to the door of the hospital room, and found the Hokage waiting for him outside.

"Yosh! Let's go Jiji!" Naruto said excitedly, letting the Hokage lead him out of the hospital.

**xxxXXX—XXXxxx**

The house was on the southeast side of Konoha, a less developed area. The building itself was nestled back in a small thicket of trees, and was set near several rarely used training grounds. The house wasn't overly large, though much bigger than Naruto's apartment had been.

It was a low, squat one-story building with a pyramidal curved _hoygo_ roof lined with gray-green tiles. It was set back behind a low fence that surrounded the property, and extended back far into the backyard.

Naruto's eyes were wide as Sarutobi used a key to open the metal gate at the front of the property, and then handed the key to the youngster.

"Th-this is kaa-san's house? This is where I get to stay?" He asked breathlessly. To him it was simply enormous, something he would have believed just a day ago that he would never be able to get or stay in.

Sarutobi chuckled. "Yes, Naruto, this is your mother's home. When the time comes you can move to your father's estate, which is larger, if you would like, but for now, this is your home now."

An enormous smile threatened to split Naruto's face in half. "Thanks Jiji."

They walked up the stone-paved path, past what appeared to once have been low, long garden beds that were now choked over by weeds. There was an overgrown rock garden also visible along one side of the house. The lawn was definitely going to take some work, but he didn't care – it was a house of his own.

Naruto used the key to open the door, and both he and Sarutobi stepped in onto the recessed tile _genkan, _removing their shoes. There were no slippers so they made do with their socks as they arranged their shoes at the edge of the sunken-in area and then stepped up onto a linoleum-lined hallway. The hallway led to the kitchen and the rest of the house.

The kitchen was not overly large; the same general appliances he'd had at the apartment, but with more space and room to move around, as well as countertop preparation area. The rest of the house, was largely one big room, but Naruto saw wood and paper _fusuma_ sliding partitions against the walls, and noted they could be used to make smaller separate rooms. A small room was divided off as a bedroom, but the rest had no furniture.

When he asked about getting some, Sarutobi led him into the back to the _oshiire_ where all of the furniture was stored, from chairs to a low table and sitting cushions to a _futon_ and a large stack of _tatami_ flooring mats.

After a brief tour of the rest of the building, including the toilet and the bathing room, which were separate and much less cramped than the bathing unit at his apartment, which had the sink, bathing area, and toilet all crammed into one room, Sarutobi brought him out into backyard.

Out back the yard seemed to have been converted into a large, rectangular training area, complete with several large training posts for either physical work on the poles themselves or training dummies. Further poles set vertically and horizontally in a haphazard manner on the far end of the training area – in the center it was open for full sparring – appeared to be an obstacle course.

_*What do you think, Naru-kun?_* Kushina asked softly in his head.

He felt like his mind was spinning, finally getting out of the hospital and then seeing all of this. Sure, the yard was overgrown, and the surfaces in the house covered in a visible layer of dust from lack of use, but it was _his_.

"It's awesome," Naruto said aloud, forgetting about the Hokage who stood nearby watching him.

"I'm glad you like it, Naruto," Sarutobi said. "I'm afraid I will need to get back to work in a few hours. I'll need to give you some money to help pay for your food and clothes and anything else you might have lost… but how would you like me to treat you to dinner at Ichiraku first?"

"Yes! Ramen!" Naruto shouted, pumping his fist into the air in excitement

**xxxXXX-XXXxxx**

"Three bowls of miso, please!" Naruto said, sitting down at counter of Ramen Ichiraku.

A young girl, just in her teens, wearing a white robe with a blue apron and similarly colored bandana, which held back her brown hair, turned around quickly, and then hurried around the counter after seeing Naruto.

"Naruto!" She nearly shouted, grabbing him into a tight hug. "I was so worried when I heard you were in the hospital, and that some jerk burned down your apartment. Are you okay? How badly were you hurt?"

She was stopped from asking further questions when Naruto tapped his hand on the bar weakly.

"A-Ayame-nee-chan! Can't….breathe!" Naruto gasped out, and she looked down to find his face turning blue and realized she was smothering him with her tight grip.

Ayame blushed and let go, helping him back onto his seat. "Sorry, Naruto-kun, guess I wasn't thinking."

Naruto gave a weak smile as he recovered. "It's okay, Ayame-nee. Thanks for being worried about me."

She ruffled his hair playfully. "Of course I was worried, you're my favorite customer. We'd go out of business without you." She said, chuckling.

Naruto grinned. "In that case, make it twelve miso! Jiji is paying!"

Naruto jerked a thumb over his shoulder to where Sarutobi was watching the two of them fondly. As he said that, though, Sarutobi looked mournfully down at his pocket where he kept his wallet – he had a feeling it was going to be much thinner after tonight.

Ayame gasped, and her face flushed a bright red. "_Gomen_, Hokage-sama, I didn't notice you."

Sarutobi waved her off. "Don't worry about it – I'm glad to see Naruto has some real friends who care about him. I'm treating him to dinner tonight, so go ahead and get his miso. I'll have a bowl of _shio_."

"Alright, I'll have that right out," she said, moving back behind the counter.

Naruto watched for a few minutes as she hurried around the kitchen, starting preparations for a long train of ramen that would be going out to him.

"Hey, Ayame-nee-chan, where's old man Teuchi?"

Ayame set the first bowl in front of him, and then gave the other to Sarutobi. "Dad was coming down with a cold today. I made him go home and let me take care of the rest of the sales today."

"Tell him I hope he feels better," Naruto said, as he grabbed some wooden chopsticks, and broke them apart. "Itadakimasu!" He said, before promptly diving into the bowl of ramen.

A full thirty minutes later, Naruto was sitting back, nearly tipping over the stool as he patted a very full stomach, and Sarutobi had just finished his second bowl – slowed down by watching the amazing yet horrifying sight of Naruto slurping down bowl after bowl of ramen.

"Well, Naruto, I need to go back to my office, but if you need anything, just let me know." He handed him an envelope stuffed with money, as well as a small box. "Wait until you get back to your new home to open that." He said.

"Okay, Jiji."

"Yūgao's mission should be over tomorrow, and I'll talk to her about tutoring you. Do you want me to tell her… about your new friend?"

Naruto was quiet for a moment, and then nodded his head. "Tell her everything. Otherwise it'll be hard to explain the stuff _she_ teaches me," he said, tapping the side of his head.

"Okay, Naruto, I'll tell her."

"Alright, goodnight, Jiji, thanks for everything!" Naruto said as he stood up slowly, while the Hokage set money down on the bar to cover their meals and a generous tip.

"Goodnight, Naruto, take care of yourself," Sarutobi said softly, before turning to slowly walk away as he pulled out his pipe.

Ayame came to the counter once more, and picked up the money, before starting to clear away the towering stack of bowls Naruto had created. "Goodnight, Naruto-kun, I really am very happy you're alright," she said with a soft smile.

"Thanks Ayame-nee-chan, you're great." Naruto said, a warm feeling at his chest that she had really been so worried about him. "Goodnight," he called, waving over his shoulder as he headed back to his new home.

It was dark as he arrived, and he ended up fumbling with the key in the low light, but eventually made it through the gate and into the house. He turned on a light switch, and hurried over to the closet to pull out one of the chairs.

Once he'd dragged it out, he sat down, and eagerly opened up the package the Hokage had given him. He turned it on its side, and a blackened object fell out.

Naruto's eyes widened, as he recognized his goggles. The band that kept them on his head was gone, likely burnt as it had been elastic fiber, but the rest was relatively intact. The blue plastic surrounding the lenses was warped in places, and blackened, but the lenses themselves seemed relatively okay.

A small note dropped out with the goggles, and he picked it up, reading the Sandaime's handwriting. _"Naruto, I found this today while we were looking through the wreckage of the apartments. I know they were special to you, so I thought you'd like to have them back_."

Naruto smiled, and held the goggles to his chest. He'd gotten them several years ago, but who they were from was a mystery. He'd heard a knocking on his apartment door that evening, and a patter of feet running away, and he'd gotten up, expecting his door to be egged or some other 'pleasant' present waiting for him. But instead, he'd found the goggles lying at his doorstep, with a small note with neat handwriting that simply said "_Thank You_".

He had no idea who had done it – he'd run down the hall, and searched the area but by then the person had been long gone – and he didn't know what it had been for, but it was the first present he'd ever really gotten, and he had worn them every day since then.

'_Well, I'll have to get a new band for it tomorrow, but it looks like they're still okay. I'll keep wearing it to remind me I have to keep getting stronger so that can never happen again_.' He thought, leaning back in the chair.

**xxxXXX-XXXxxx**

_**Ninja Academy, Konohagakure, Land of Fire **_

Naruto walked slowly toward the Academy building, due to how early he was. Kushina had woke him up much earlier than he was used to – and firmly stated he'd be waking up that early for the foreseeable future, so he'd better get used to it.

She'd made him run laps around the yard for nearly thirty minutes, to 'wake him up', she'd said. She wanted him to work on his physical stamina, as his own chakra and energy stamina were through the roof.

Because of all of that, he was getting to the Academy nearly twenty minutes before he usually did.

When he neared, he saw a number of parents dropping their children off at the entrance. Rather than the usual sadness that welled up inside of him at the sight, he grinned to himself. They might have their parents physically there to drop them off, but _he_ had his kaa-san with him every minute of the day now. As far as he was concerned, having been without anyone for so long, he definitely had the better deal.

Naruto perked up when he saw a familiar face as he entered – his teacher Iruka-sensei. There'd been a bit of a rocky start with him when he started teaching, but now he gave Naruto the attention he hungered for, and he had become Naruto's favorite teacher – one of the few he actually learned anything from.

"Hey Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called, waving.

Iruka looked up from the paper he had been reading while walking down the hall toward the teacher's quarters. "Naruto?" He asked, looking surprised – more often than not Naruto was late for class, not early. He then frowned, remembering what he'd heard from some of his fellow Shinobi.

"Naruto, are you sure you're okay to come in today? I heard about the fire at your apartment, and someone said you were hurt…." He didn't mention Mizuki, who he'd heard had betrayed the village and paid the price.

Naruto put his arms back behind his head and grinned widely. "Nah, I'm okay, Iruka-sensei, just a little burn. I'll be better in no time. They said I could come back today if I want to."

Iruka nodded, glad his student hadn't been as badly injured as the rumors had purported. "Well, alright, I'll see you in class. But if I find out you're here early so you can set up a prank…." He trailed off, letting the threat sink in, before waving again, and heading away from Naruto.

"Geez, guess they already _do_ underestimate me. Although another prank might be a good idea," Naruto muttered, grinning to himself.

*_Not today, Naru-kun_* Kushina said quietly in his head. *_I'm not going to stop you from your little pranks – I might even figure out a way to make them into training, and help you with a few myself – but today you still need to finish healing up, and running away from angry teachers isn't the best way to do that._*

Naruto pouted, and crossed his arms, but when the movement sent a shiver of pain down his back, he silently agreed. There was always tomorrow for a good prank.

As Iruka disappeared around the corner, Naruto walked down the hall to the classroom the kids of his year used as their 'homeroom'. He slid open the door, and saw far fewer people in the room than he usually did, due to being early. He took a step forward to head down toward his usual seat that typically landed him near Sasuke and Sakura-chan.

*_Wait,_* his kaa-san's voice caused him to stop awkwardly with one leg far ahead of the other.

'_What, kaa-san?_' Naruto asked in his head, having to remember to not speak out loud.

*_Naru-kun, I want you to try sitting somewhere else. I want you to try to make some new friends, and sitting down by Sasuke and Sakura isn't going to help you with that.*_ She was somewhat disappointed that Sasuke seemed to have taken after his father, and behaved cockily in class, showing off what he'd learned. She and Mikoto - Sasuke's mother - had been good friends, and hoped their children would grow up to be as well, but Sasuke seemed to have a dislike for Naruto, considering him the 'class clown'.

Naruto frowned. '_But kaa-san, I like Sakura-chan. She's a friend._'

He heard Kushina sigh in his mind. *_Naruto, I- I don't want to upset you, but no, I don't think Sakura is your friend. At least not now. Remember, I've seen everything you've gone through, and I think Shikamaru and Choji are far closer to being friends to you. Maybe Sakura can be a nice girl sometimes, and maybe someday she could be a friend, but right now she's blinded by the cool 'prodigy' of the class, and her rivalry with the other girls. Anytime you try to talk to her, she hits you.*_

_ 'Ano, kaa-san, she isn't that bad,'_ Naruto protested.

*_Naru-kun, I'm not doing this to be mean, I just think this will be better for you. Wait a few years and see if she mellows out, and if you still like her then, then try befriending her again. Think about it like this – if I was out in the world with you, and I went and started dating a man that punched me in the face whenever he didn't like what I said, would you be okay with that?*_

_'What? No way, I'd kick his butt and tell him to never come back, because no one hurts my kaa-san, dattebayo! Why would you think of doing something like that?_' He paused a moment, as what he said sunk in.

'_Oh_,' he thought slowly. '_You don't want that happening to me…_'

*_Exactly, my Naru-kun, no one hurts _you _if I have anything to say about it._* She said softly. *_That isn't a good foundation for a relationship. Light whacks on the back of the head, or swats on the shoulder, things like that can be okay if they're affectionate, but not trying to pound someone's face into the pavement. Just think about it, okay?_*

Naruto nodded, and straightened his stance. '_Okay, kaa-san, maybe when we're older and I'm smarter like her, she'll like me more._' His gaze slid around the room. '_Where should I sit though?_'

She was about to speak, when his gaze settled on Hinata who was sitting quietly in the back row in front of him. '_What about Hinata, kaa-san? She's a little weird but she's usually nice, isn't she? And her mom was really nice too.'_

Kushina smiled to herself, having been planning on suggesting the spot, because she knew the girl liked him. *_That sounds good, Naru-kun. And she's not weird, she's just very shy, but I think she'd like to be your friend._*

Naruto smiled, walked over, and plopped down in the chair next to her. "Ohayo, Hinata!" He said, grinning at the blue-haired girl.

Hinata jumped, letting out a squeak at the sudden greeting, and then began to press her forefingers together, a blush growing on her face as she realized just who had sat next to her and spoke to her.

"G-Good morning N-Naruto-kun," she said softly, her eyes tracking up to his face and then back down to the table several times. "A-aren't you going to s-sit in your normal s-seat?"

"Huh? Nah, I was gettin' bored there, so I thought I'd sit over here by you. Sorry 'bout running into you the other night." He said, scratching the back of his head.

"N-no, it's okay," she said, looking down at her hands.

As she glanced back up he put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair, and she saw something sticking out of the collar of his orange jumpsuit jacket. "N-Naruto-kun, are you alright? My mother said that there was a fire at your apartment…" She asked, suddenly feeling less shy at the sight of the bandages.

Naruto glanced down, following her gaze, and then shrugged, giving her his big 'no worries' grin. "It's just a little bit of a burn. I got lucky and got out of there before it was too bad. Hokage-jiji saved me."

Hinata gasped softly, and then blushed when he looked at her more closely at the outburst. She suddenly wondered if the mean men and women who had been chasing him that night had done it.

"I-I'm sorry," she said.

Naruto shrugged again, his smile seeming more genuine now. "Eh, you didn't do it, Hinata, you don't hafta be sorry. Besides, now I've got an awesome place to stay –the Hokage gave it to me yesterday."

"Th-that's good. I'm g-glad."

"Thanks Hinata. So, did I miss much in class yesterday?"

"N-no, we did some s-shuriken throwing, and s-some village history, about the Y-Yondaime." She said, and then looked up at him, swallowing heavily as she built up a bit of confidence for the next part. "I-i-if y-you like I can s-show you my n-notes."

"Really?" Naruto asked, grinning. He knew that he had the best source of information on the Yondaime – it was even still hard to believe he was his father – right inside of his head, but Hinata didn't know about his kaa-san, and seemed to want to help him, so he didn't want to make her feel bad. "That'd be great, Hinata!"

Hinata blushed and her hands shook nervously as she bent down to her backpack and searched through her papers until she found her notebook. She wasn't exactly sure why, but something about the young boy next to her always got her more flustered than usual, which only made things more embarrassing and worse for the shy girl.

"Thanks, Hinata," Naruto said as she handed him the notebook turned to the right page. "This's great – if you ever need any help with…. Umm…." He thought for a long moment, but realized he didn't really know the girl well enough to know what she might need help on. And he knew he wasn't the greatest at most things anyway. "Well, anything, just ask me."

Hinata just nodded quickly, and he took out his own notebook, and began scribbling down a copy of the notes she had taken, becoming absorbed in the process – she definitely took better notes than he did, he found. And she seemed to add arrows, making connections to thoughts and facts. On the sides of the sheet, he saw smaller writing, which seemed to be scribbling down facts she remembered as the lesson went on, or thoughts of her own. '_Maybe Hinata can teach me how to get better at schoolwork, huh kaa-san?'_

*_As long as you don't expect her to take notes for you, and just to teach you how to take them better, then yes, I'm sure she could._*

'_Never! I'm gonna do my work myself and make you proud, kaa-san,_'

Naruto finished copying the notes before class began, and then looked up in interest at a loud argument between several of the girls of the class over who got to sit in the same row as 'Sasuke-kun'. The said object of the argument simply sat quietly in his seat, pointedly ignoring them.

Naruto saw that Sakura was one of them, and was slightly surprised he hadn't even noticed her come in. He sighed slightly as she and another girl, Ami, sat down in the same chair, each trying to push the other off in order to have the seat next to Sasuke.

He shook his head slightly, disliking the boy who was the top of the class, and whose clan was strong in the village, making him popular amongst many in the Academy.

Finally, he turned his gaze away from them, remembering what his kaa-san said, and his decision that he'd have to get smart first and then try to become friends with Sakura. He looked down, and skimmed over his paper once more, making sure he hadn't missed anything, before he turned toward Hinata who seemed to be watching everything in the room.

He opened his mouth, but then was interrupted by Iruka coming into the class and quieting everyone down before he could ask Hinata what he wanted.

He settled for asking her later, and quietly slid the notebook over to her. He gave her a wide grin and mouthed "thank you" to her, and she took the notebook, her face now resembling a tomato in color.

Naruto shrugged mentally. He still thought she was a little weird with her blushing and all that, but maybe she truly was just really shy.

**xxxXXX-XXXxxx**

Teaching, for Umino Iruka, that day was nerve-wracking. First, he had to cover double the lessons he usually did, due to Mizuki being dead, which was rather stressful dealing with so many kids for so long. But he also kept expecting to end up falling victim to one of Naruto's pranks – his early attendance had started the suspicions, and now he was getting a bit jumpy the class finished for the day.

He'd become more paranoid as the day had gone by, mainly because the blond-haired knucklehead was actually sitting up, listening, and _taking notes_ all through the class without even falling asleep a single time. He even seemed to be giving Iruka his full attention, and hadn't had a single outburst. It was… disturbing… and made him think he was simply waiting for the perfect moment to spring a new prank.

Iruka let out a sigh of relief, and bundled his papers together on his desk after they finished the lesson on uses of ninja-wire, and he let them all leave, initiating a rush from the classroom and a cheer from the students.

Iruka turned around and nearly yelped out loud when he found a grinning, innocent-looking Naruto standing a mere three feet away from him. "N-Naruto, I didn't realize you were there. Usually you're the first one out of here… what's really going on? Just do your prank already!"

Naruto's eyes closed into flat slits and he got a confused look on his face. "Ano, what are you talking about Sensei? I wasn't going to do any pranks today. I'm still healing."

Iruka's eyes darted around, wondering if this was simply a ploy to take his guard down. "Well," he said carefully, "you sat in a different spot than usual, you didn't fall asleep once in class, you paid attention, and you were even taking notes… If you weren't planning a prank, why are you acting so strangely?"

Naruto nodded, realizing what had caught Iruka's attention. "Well, I decided to change. I'm gonna be a better student so I can be a better ninja, and stop being dead last in class. So I can't sleep in class anymore. I'm gettin' serious, dattebayo!" He announced, after Kushina said he could say something to Iruka.

Iruka relaxed slightly, but still kept his guard up. "You've changed, Naruto… was it the fire?"

Naruto nodded, a solemn look on his face. "Yeah. And that jerk Mizuki tryin' to kill me. I've gotta get strong to protect myself otherwise I'm never gonna be Hokage!"

Iruka smiled – at least some things hadn't changed. While he was saddened the boy had changed from those near-death experiences, at least it seemed to be for the positive. As much as he had wanted to hate the grinning blonde when he'd first met him for what he held inside, he had found it harder and harder to call up that emotion as the boy showed him just how much he was like Iruka himself.

"Alright then, I'm happy you've gotten serious about your studies, Naruto. So what was it you wanted to ask?"

"Well, I was wondering, if we're going to learn a lot about seals in class."

Iruka frowned. "Not really. About as far as we ever get is how to use storage seals or exploding tags. Anything else is usually taught when you are Genin or Chūnin, and usually not much more, unless someone wants to apprentice under a seal master or something. Why?"

Naruto shrugged. "I just wondered. I was… readin' in the hospital, and seals sounded really cool. Sucks that we don't learn a lot."

Iruka sighed at the depressed look that came over the blond, and the fact that he actually _wanted_ to learn something struck him. "Tell you what, Naruto, I'll see if I can find a beginner's book on Sealing for you, so you can learn about it on your own time, okay?"

Naruto's face lit up. "Really? Awesome! You're the greatest, Iruka-sensei! I won't play my next prank on you like I was planning to! See you tomorrow!" he called as he ran out of the room, leaving Iruka with an eyebrow twitching, wondering at the new attitude of his student.

**xxxXXX-XXXxxx**

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**A/N:**_Well, hope you all enjoyed it. Poor Iruka, Naruto got him to prank himself without even trying to do so. :)_

_Alright, first things first, don't worry, this is not going to be a bashing fic. I don't hate Sakura or anything, I just think Naruto's mother would want him to develop more… healthy relationships, especially at this age. Eventually, with a more mellow Naruto, Sakura will become friends with him (though she won't be one of the other two girls). _

_Naruto will instead be developing a friendship with Hinata as well as Shikamaru and Choji (more than he did in canon) in the next several is going to be a Strong Hinata story - she'll be gaining a lot of confidence in herself with Naruto's friendship, and grow rapidly with that encouragement. A few reviews about the Uchiha clan, I hope you'll like what I have happen on that front coming in a few chapters._

_So, next chapter, Hitomi (and Hinata) come to visit Naruto at his new house, Naruto meets Yūgao, and begins his training. There'll be three or four more chapters before I have a timeskip to Graduation Day, just to get you an idea of what he'll be doing in his training, as well as let you get to know some of the other characters (Yūgao, Hitomi, Itachi, Kushina, etc.), and show the developing friendship between Naruto and Hinata._

_So, until next week, see you guys!_

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_Genkan = recessed entryway in Japanese houses where shoes are taken off before entering the home itself_

_Oshiire= large closet(s) where the furniture is stored, allowing easy reconfiguration of rooms_


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